Latest Zalmay Khalilzad News

WASHINGTON (AP) — An envoy to Afghanistan was met with skepticism Wednesday on Capitol Hill as he briefed lawmakers on peace talks with the Taliban aimed at ending the 17-year war. Lawmakers were tight-lipped as they left the classified meeting with special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, but the chairman of the...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A brazen Taliban attack on U.S.-based aid group in the Afghan capital raised concerns Thursday among other relief organizations they could be targeted even as the insurgents held peace talks with a U.S. envoy. Authorities said Wednesday's assault on the Kabul office of Counterpart...

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban on Saturday said the gap is narrowing in talks with Washington's special peace envoy over a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. The two sides are continuing to meet in Qatar, where the insurgent movement maintains a political office. In a voice message...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan grand council convened by President Ashraf Ghani ended Friday with a resounding call for peace with the Taliban and a promise from the president to free 175 Taliban prisoners ahead of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month that starts next week. The council — known as...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan grand council on Thursday agreed on several recommendations for peace talks with the Taliban, after four days of meetings in Kabul meant to hammer out a common strategy for future negotiations. President Ashraf Ghani had convened the council of more than 3,200...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban say a fresh round of talks with U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is to start in Qatar, where the religious movement maintains a political office. Khalilzad is trying to negotiate an end to Afghanistan's 17-year war, America's longest military confrontation. He was in...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's president opened a grand council on Monday of more than 3,200 Afghans seeking to agree on a common approach to peace talks with the Taliban, but the gathering may further aggravate divisions within the U.S.-backed government. President Ashraf Ghani hopes to showcase...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Afghan president inaugurated the country's new parliament on Friday, almost six months since elections were held and following long delays, unresolved disputes and political bickering. The ceremony came as the Defense Ministry said the military had stormed a Taliban-run jail...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban ambushed a security convoy in western Afghanistan, killing nine policemen, and in Kabul, a would-be attacker died when a bomb he was trying to plant at a private university detonated prematurely, officials said Thursday. According to a councilman in western Farah...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Afghanistan's president over the weekend to express Washington's disappointment over the indefinite postponement of Afghan talks with the Taliban, according to a statement released Monday. The talks were scheduled to start this coming...